topic Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work. in Get Support

Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 07:14:10 GMT

Hello

I'm having trouble getting my Samsung S5 working on the PM network. My phone is unlocked and currently has a sim card from Bell and I'm located in Kenora Ontario. I bought my PM sim card at a Walmart in Winnipeg MB and registered it on the PM network. I used a new phone number and and selected the $10 plan in case it didn't work. When I go onto the PM site my account shows active. When I put the card in my phone I can not get it to work. When I do a network search I see the Public Mobile displayed and if I chose it I get a messsage saying the network is not available, try again later. When I go back I see the Telus network operators is selected when on the LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect) but it changes to Bell when I select the WCDMA/GSM (auto connect). I've tried powering off the phone and have removed the sim card and reinserted. I've also gone as far as reseting my phone back to the factory default. I've checked the IMEI number on PM and it shows my phone as compatible.

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 05:48:49 GMT

@Ruggybuggy:

Excellent details! Excellent troubleshooting!

Did you look on willmyphonework.net? Like which one of the various specific models is it?

Samsung have some notoriety for putting in their own lock. Apparently you have to talk to them. But I'm not sure if it's just locking to the first carrier and whether or not that carrier can do the unlock.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Zhuoyu — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 11:06:52 GMT

Have you checked if the phone is locked up to Bell?

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

will13am — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:02:59 GMT

@Ruggybuggy, is there a network reset function? Many carrier phones seem to "lock onto" the previous carrier.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

will13am — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:06:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Ruggybuggy:
Excellent details! Excellent troubleshooting!
Did you look on willmyphonework.net? Like which one of the various specific models is it?
Samsung have some notoriety for putting in their own lock. Apparently you have to talk to them. But I'm not sure if it's just locking to the first carrier and whether or not that carrier can do the unlock.

No need to be concerned about band compatibility. We are talking about using the same network here. You probably seen me refer to the Bellus network.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:27:09 GMT

I bought the Samsung S5 a couple of years ago as an unlocked phone and it's always been on the Bell network. How do I find out if somehow it's locked itself with Bell.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:31:26 GMT

Excuse my ignorance but what is the Bellus network?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. I just realized that my wife's iPhone is with Tbay tel. I'll try to put her sim in my phone to see if my phone is locked.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:45:44 GMT

Sorry guys/gals, made a mistake. My phone is a S7 and not a S5 if that makes a difference.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:53:05 GMT

@Ruggybuggy wrote:
Excuse my ignorance but what is the Bellus network?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. I just realized that my wife's iPhone is with Tbay tel. I'll try to put her sim in my phone to see if my phone is locked.

Bell and Telus use the same infrastructure and frequencies so some jokingly refer to it as Bellus. Bell Telus.

Of course will13am is correct. If it was working on Bell then the phone should be fine.

Try dialing *#7465625# . It might give you the locked status. I don't have an Android so I'm not sure this will work. I googled around a little. Not even sure about Android version.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:56:56 GMT

Just tried *#7465625# and nothing happens.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:01:44 GMT

@Ruggybuggy wrote:
Just tried *#7465625# and nothing happens.

In your dialer? Press go or call or whatever? And no space.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:21:13 GMT

I just dialed *#7465625# and pressed call and got the message no connection or wrong MMI. This is with the bell sim installed and not the PM.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:23:21 GMT

@Ruggybuggy wrote:
I just dialed *#7465625# and pressed call and got the message no connection or wrong MMI. This is with the bell sim installed and not the PM.

It's funny. The quick preview of the post shows a space in the dial code but here it doesn't.

Oh well. I guess that function doesn't work for your phone.

How'd it go with the other SIM?

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:46:21 GMT

Well the phone is definitely unlocked. I put my wife's tbaytel sim in and it worked without issue and I was able to place a call. Did have to mess with anything, it just worked. Wished the PM would.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:58:47 GMT

@Ruggybuggy wrote:
Well the phone is definitely unlocked. I put my wife's tbaytel sim in and it worked without issue and I was able to place a call. Did have to mess with anything, it just worked. Wished the PM would.

In the self-serve, did you check to see if the last 4 digits are the same as physically on the SIM? I think you can only see the last 4.

I'm thinking you'll need to contact the mods to figure this out. No one else is offering ideas so I guess that's where we are.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:59:01 GMT

Reinstalled the PM sim and tried the *#7465625# and the message comes up not registered on the network. The phone shows it's connected to telus.

Is it possible that the PM sim will not work in North Western Ontario? The reason I ask is because I bought the PM sim in Winnipeg at Walmart. I tried to buy it at Walmart in Kenora and they don't stock them. I checked stock online in Thunder Bay and Fort Frances and they are not available. Are they not available because they don't work in our area?

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:04:53 GMT

No. It'll work across Canada having been bought from anywhere in Canada. Wherever Bell or Telus works, PM will work. Have you checked the coverage map? Tbaytel uses Rogers.

Power cycling should be the same thing but maybe try airplane mode on/off.

Another reach might be to try the lost/stolen trick.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:33:10 GMT

I did check the coverage map and it indicates that I'm good to go. I'm connected to the telus network and show full bars. The message "not registered on the network" keeps coming up so I'm assuming it's a registration problem? I checked the last four digits on the sim and they are the same as the one shown in my account. I just went ahead and chose the change sim card number and typed the sim number that appears on the card to the account just to make sure the full number is correct (account only shows the last four digits) but I'm still having the "not registered on the network" message.

So how does the lost/stolen phone work. Seems like a very drastic method.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Ruggybuggy — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:36:41 GMT

Do I have to worry about the access point name. My phone shows mobile internet sp.mb.com.

I read somewhere to set up a PM access name.

Re: Having trouble getting my phone to work.

Dunkman — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:51:30 GMT

@Ruggybuggy

Ensure you have the correct APN settings by visiting https://apn-canada.gishan.net/. Select the brand and model of your phone, scroll down the page and then select Public Mobile. After doing so, you will be provided with the exact APNs required for your phone on our network.

The report lost/stolen phone is not that drastic. It is a trick that resets the SIM card and sometimes re-activates the account. In self service account, choose lost and stolen phone. Logout. Log back in in a few minutes and report the phone found.

Might want to do a network reset if you have not tried yet.